Wellington, the Man

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 77, 13 December 1940, Page 5

Wellington, the Man

]t is worth noting that Lord Roberts, no mean " judge, placed Wellington in the very front rank of soldiers, equal, if not superior, to Napoleon. But it is rather the whole character of Wellington that we should look to in this time-of trial. As a man

he was far superior to Napoleon. It is true that as a statesman and as a man he had serious faults. But in his qualities of self-control and devotion to duty he was a model to his countrymen. He disciplined himself rigidly throughout his life, and when he was the first man in his country he continued to live simply. He never allowed ambition to master him, as Napoleon did. While all the Allied world honoured and courted him, Wellington never lost a particle of the feeling that he was the servant of his country and that the execution of his duty was his only interest in life. Sorely tried as he was through the Peninsular campaign, he faced his difficulties with a coolness and serenity that never faltered. He was never jealous or petty. In short, Wellington had character. He was a rock on which the storms of life beat in vain. I think we are justified in placing a special value on all these qualities to-day. Wellington had a perfect disposition for a crisis. He was never ruffled in danger; his body and his brain worked admirably together. He never lost grip of a situation; never despaired. Napoleon said that the. moral factor in war was greater than the material factor; he could have found an example of this in the man who beat him. The moral factor is.so vital to-day that we should turn now and then and study Wellington’s career-the man who served his country so unselfishly and was always master of himself. So, Wellington, capital of New Zealand, you have something to live up to!-"" What's in a Name?-Wellington." 2YA, November 24. eee |